Over Time, That Time-and-a-Half Bill’s Adding Up

Somewhere Thursday, I swear I heard Bruce Whitaker let out a long, low moan. He’s the Fullerton man who was front and center four summers ago as Orange County tried to figure out what to do if it ever got out of bankruptcy.

“Here’s an idea,” Whitaker said then. “Spend less money.”

That was kind of a goofy concept, but there was a time when people thought the new world order might actually move things that direction. Knocked off its pins by investment strategies that backfired, the county declared bankruptcy in late 1994 and wallowed in misery for much of 1995.

It begged for help. When some people (me included) said citizens should pony up at the sales tax window to help out, Whitaker grimaced.

“Spend less!” he shouted.

And the county did, for a while. It laid people off and cut programs and services.

But ever so slowly, help arrived.

The state helped out. Then, Wall Street came back to the fold. Eventually, county employees got long-delayed raises.

And now, the best news of all:

Overtime pay in county government is way, way up! Your county employees are working harder (at least, longer) and don’t mind asking you to pay for it. Thank God they’ve gotten over their embarrassment.

Bankruptcy? What bankruptcy?

Overtime, which pays off at time-and-a-half, is up 17% from last year. Since the bankruptcy, it has nearly doubled.

The overtime from the Sheriff’s Department alone would account for the entire increase, but that hides the fact that many other departments also increased overtime pay but were offset by other departments with reduced figures.

The big picture is this: The county’s overtime tab for the last year was $31.5 million. It was $26.8 million the year before. It was $17.3 million in 1995.

But as we all know, county government has done a much, much better job for us the past year. There’s no way it could do the kind of job it’s done without putting in those extra hours, eh?

Why must I be so petty? you ask.

Simple. I can understand overtime when natural disasters strike. I don’t want the flood-control people or road crews punching out early if there’s work to be done after hours.

But the Employees Retirement people?

The library?

Those are two of the groups that account for a portion of the year-to-year increase in overtime.

Why can’t these people get their work done?

Good question, says Bruce Whitaker.

Truth is, he’s seen this coming in the last couple of years. A medical center administrator and still active in the reduce-government movement, he says glumly of the overtime figures: “I do get the sense that happy times are back again in the county.”

He says there’s no obvious reason why overtime should increase 17%. The county says it’s because salaries are rising and because paying occasional overtime is cheaper than hiring additional full-timers.

Whitaker is skeptical, to say the least. In private business, he says, expansion or specific projects can drive overtime pay in the short term. But in the long run, he says, excessive overtime suggests poor management.

Whitaker and I don’t speak the same language. He lives and breathes this stuff.

He uses words like “efficiencies” and “productivity” and “CAFs” (comprehensive annual financial reports) to decry excessive overtime.

My cry is somewhat more pedestrian:

Why can’t you people go home at 5 o’clock?

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821, by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.